Author: Jessica

I can’t believe the booktube-a-thon is over already. I had such a fun time for my first year of this read-a-thon, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I did not successfully complete all of the challenges, and I didn’t end up sticking to my TBR, but I did well.

I read 5 books in total, which you might have seen if you follow me on my blog Twitter.

In my original TBR post, I said that my goal was to read at least 3 books, so I did pretty well, considering my low expectations! I’m not usually great with read-a-thons, but I really wanted to try hard for this one, and I’m proud of myself.

Let’s just get on with what books I read!

The Books:

Thin Space by Jody Casella

This book completed the challenge of letting a coin toss decide your first read. It was a little disappointing as my first booktube-a-thon read because I only gave it 2/5 stars. I did not relate to any of the characters, and I found it difficult to get into this book. I thought the plot twist at the end was really interesting, but the first 100+ pages of the book were just too slow (and the book is less than 300 pages).

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

This is the second book I finished during this week, but it was not part of my TBR. It’s a re-read that I started before booktube-a-thon began, but I finished it once it started. If you are new to my blog, then you wouldn’t know that this is one of my all time favorite books ever. The re-read just confirmed my love for it, and I can not wait to see more from Tamara. I can count this book for the “read a book about something you want to do” challenge because I would love to be part of a poet’s club like the main character is a part of!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

I read this for the first time a few years ago and loved it, but I couldn’t remember much. This time around, I listened to it as an audiobook, and it was such a great experience! I really loved it and gave it 5/5 stars. Right after, I watched the movie (and completed the challenge of reading and watching a book to movie adaptation), which was just as good. This book is super dark but really interesting and heartbreaking.

By Your Side by Kasie West

This book was just on the list to complete the challenge of “read 7 books.” Clearly, that did not happen. I could move this one to the “read a book with a beautiful spine” challenge instead. Initially, I did not think I was going to like this book because I thought it was going to just be a super fluffy read with no depth. I was wrong about that. There are so many heavy topics discussed in this book which I really appreciated, and it ended up being so much more than I expected. I gave it 3.5/5 stars.

Girls Resist by KaeLyn Rich

This is another that wasn’t on my TBR, but I wanted to finish it before the book came out! Thank you to Quirk Books for being kind enough to send me this book! I loved it so so much, and I am so happy that I got to read it. It is super informative, and I think every girl needs this guide in her life. I know I will refer back to it from time to time :) I gave it 5/5 stars, and I can count it towards the challenge of “reading a book with green on the cover.”

I had such a great booktube-a-thon! I am so happy with how I did, even if I didn’t complete all of the challenges. Did you participate? How did you do?

We are already 5 days into August. How did that happen? Well, I feel like I’m already behind on this TBR, but I decided I would post it anyways! The books below are all ones I’m hoping to read this month before I go to school in the fall! Plus, there are a few books I have already read/am reading as part of the booktube-a-thon, so you can check out my TBR for that here.

The Books:

Joyride by Anna Banks

This book has been on my TBR for a while because I bought it off of bookoutlet on a whim, and it has just been sitting on my shelves. It’s a fairly short book, so I really want to knock it off my TBR soon!

Afterparty by Ann Stampler

This one is another random bookoutlet find, but I am absolutely intrigued by it. The premise sounds really interesting, but what really drew me in was the cover. I think it is so stunning, especially in person. I have been wanting to read it for months now, but have yet to get around to it! Hopefully this is the month it gets read!

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

In case you didn’t know, I have been absolutely DYING to read this book ever since it came out. I bought it at Bookcon back in June, but I had so many other books that needed my attention first, so I haven’t gotten around to this one yet. I definitely plan on reading it this month. In fact, I have already started it but then the booktube-a-thon started so I put it down for the time being.

The House by Christina Lauren

I really want to get more into mystery/thriller novels, so I have been wanting to read this book for quite some time. I know I will love it, so I really, really hope I read it this month. However, my TBR is getting a little long this month, so I don’t know if I will have the time to get to it with the other books being a bit higher priority.

Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

If you didn’t know, Every Last Word, also written by Stone is in my Top 3 of favorite books of all time. I just re-read it recently, and I fell in love with it all over again. Tamara came out with this book just a couple of months ago, and of course I bought it immediately! I can not wait to sink into this book and fall in love with another one of her reads.

Aside from these books, I also have some ARCs I need to read, but I don’t want to talk about them just yet!

Have you read any of these books? Let me know what you thought of them in the comments below :)

It’s that time again where I get to discuss all of the books I read this past month!

I fell into a huge slump this month, which is really unfortunate after last months amazing reading. I was on vacation at the beginning of the month, and then I just had so much going on with packing before I move in a couple weeks, and other things. In the past few days I have picked up some more books, but haven’t finished all of them yet. Hopefully I will finish them soon which will add a lot of books to my August wrap up!

Finished:

Looking For Alaska by John Green: I went into this book very optimistically because I am a huge John Green fan (even though I know not many people are), and I am happy to say my expectations were exceeded. The book was a little slow for me initially, and I had a bit of a hard time getting into it. BUT, once it picked up, I couldn’t put it down! It was very thought provoking and left me craving more from that world.

4/5 stars!

Thin Space by Jody Casella: This was my first book for the Booktube-a-thon this year that completed the coin toss challenge! I was not enjoying it too much up until the ending, which I ended up really loving. But, I did not find myself enjoying the majority of the book, and the only reason I even continued it was because of the read-a-thon. The characters weren’t relatable and the plot was pretty boring.

2/5 stars!

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone: I have talked about this book many, many times on here. It is one of my favorite books of all time because it was one of the first books that I really related to. It features a main character with OCD and anxiety, and I have never seen that in literature before until I read this for the first time 3 years ago. This month, I re-read it, and I loved just as much, if not more than the first time. I highly recommend it!

5/5 stars!

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold: This is another book I read for the booktube-a-thon! I listened to the audiobook this time around. I read it for the first time like 5 years ago, so I wanted to change up the way I read it this time around. It was such a great read. It is heartbreaking yet beautiful. As I write this, I am actually watching the movie adaptation! Such a sad book but I really enjoyed it.

5/5 stars!

Currently Reading:

Girls Resist!: I was sent this book to review by Quirk Books which are such lovely people! I am so happy that they sent me this book because I am loving it so so much! It is a book about feminism, leadership, how to start campaigns, etc! It is such an insightful guide and I think it is going to be super helpful to teen girls everywhere. I can’t wait to finish it. I will do a full review once I do!

What have you read in July? I hope you had a better reading month than me!

I am so late with my TBR and by the time this is up, the booktube-a-thon will be starting TOMORROW! I am so excited to be participating for the first time ever. Obviously, this is not booktube, but I still think the read-a-thon looks like a ton of fun, so I want to participate :)

The read-a-thon takes place from July 30th-August 5th and the goal is to read 7 books. There are 7 challenges in total, so I picked a book for each one, and hopefully I can read at least 3! I am going to be moving very soon, so my days are filled with packing and getting last minute things done, so I don’t know how much reading time I will have.

The TBR/Challenges:

1/ Let a coin toss decide your first read.

For this challenge, I decided to flip a coin between The Death of Us by Alice Kuipers and Thin Space by Jody Casella just because they are two of the shorter books I own. I always try to pick shorter books on my TBR for read-a-thons if possible, because you do need to read so much. Plus, both of these have been on my TBR for so long, so it would be nice to knock one off. Obviously, Thin Space won, and I am actually pretty happy about that because I was leaning towards it a little bit!

2/ Read a book about something you want to do.

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I chose November 9 by Colleen Hoover for this challenge because I read in the description that the love interest in this novel is an author, and one of my main goals in life is to be an author.

I have heard so many negative things about this book, but I own it and didn’t want to give it away without at least giving it a shot first. It has a really high Goodreads rating, but I think I heard that it is problematic, so I’m not sure why the rating is so high. But, I am (hopefully) going to read it either way.

3/ Read and watch a book to movie adaptation.

I read The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold in 8th grade, which was like 5 years ago and I do not remember much of it. I have watched the movie as well, but it was also around that time. I have been wanting to re-read this for AGES, so I finally decided I would do it for this read-a-thon!

4/ Read a book with green on the cover.

I got The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood at Bookcon, and I actually met Jessica, too. She was super sweet, and this book sounds like it will be a really amazing read. There is a bit of green on the cover, so it fit perfectly!

5/ Read a book while wearing the same hat the whole time.

I absolutely hate hats, so I chose Ruthless by Carolyn Lee Adams for this challenge because it’s a pretty short book. I think instead of a hat, I will actually wear a headband, because I don’t know if I could do the whole hat thing.

6/ Read a book with a beautiful spine.

The spine and the cover of Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker are both so beautiful, so I knew this book would fit right in. I got it for my Book of the Month a while back, and I have been dying to finally pick it up. It is a mystery/thriller which is a genre I have been wanting to read more of because it is one of my favorites! I really hope I enjoy it :)

7/ Read seven books.

For my seventh and final book, I chose By Your Side by Kasie West because I know it will be really quick to fly through. It is a fluffy YA contemporary, which is perfect for read-a-thons because they are super easy to read. I have heard amazing things about this book, and it is on my Summer TBR!

Are you participating in this read-a-thon? Let me know what books you’re reading if you are, or link your TBR post!

In just a few short weeks, I will be starting my first semester of college. I have never been more excited to explore and live life on my own in a new place. But, I still have my doubts sometimes.

I have doubts about my major and my future career choice. How do I know that the major I chose is the right one for me? Am I following the right path? Will I be happy with a career in this field?

Deciding your future can be so so terrifying. I know it was for me. I am a person with many different interests. I want to explore every single major that my school offers, so how was I supposed to narrow it down to just one? I love to write and read, so maybe English? But I am also so interested in the human mind. Maybe I’ll go with psychology. Buuuutt, I also think I would enjoy political science. I have never just been passionate about one thing- I have always been fascinated by the entire world. It’s hard to have to eliminate many of my interests just so that I can focus on one, maybe two if I double major.

Luckily, the one thing that I haven’t had any doubts about is my school- I am so excited to be attending such a beautiful campus surrounded by some really amazing people. I fell in love with the campus the first time I set foot there, and I knew it was the place for me. Plus, it is so close to the beach, which is my favorite place in the world. It’s such a relief knowing that I look forward to going to school next year, which means that I have made at least one right decision when it comes to deciding my future.

I realized I shouldn’t doubt myself so much. I know who I am and I know what I like. As long as I’m always working hard towards my goals, I know I will be okay. Besides, if I really don’t enjoy the classes I’m taking, I can always switch my major.

The future is a scary place. Venturing into the unknown always is. But follow your heart and it will lead you on the right path.

I have finally started a new writing project again!! I know that I have posted about my writing numerous times on this blog, but I never really stay up to date on updating you guys.

BUT, a couple weeks ago, I came up with a really great story idea for a contemporary YA romance, and it is the only thing consuming my thoughts at the moment. Camp NaNo started at the beginning of July, and I decided (very last minute) that I wanted to participate. I tried participating last year, but I completely failed and gave up. The story I was writing wasn’t something that I was passionate about, so it was hard to get myself to write.

However, this time around, I completely outlined a novel that I am so excited about. I haven’t been this motivated to write in a really long time, so I know that this is what I need to dedicate my time to.

Currently, I am a little over 3,000 words into this novel. I have just begun introducing my characters, and there haven’t been any major plot points yet. My goal for the Camp was to hit 10,000 words, but I don’t know if that will actually happen. I am trying not to force myself to write too much because I don’t want to burn out and get discouraged.

There is about a week left of NaNo so I am hoping to write about 1000-1500 words a day to reach my goal, but that is definitely not a sure thing.

I am really excited to get deeper into it, and my plan is to update you guys on how it is going every week. I will also give more details on the plot itself once I have established more of it because my ideas are constantly changing, so I don’t want to give a synopsis just yet!

Are you participating in Camp NaNo this month? How far along into your writing project are you?

Today I am here to introduce you to a new book titled “If You Love Me I’m Yours” by Lizzie Chantree.

Synopsis:

Maud didn’t mind being boring, not really. She had a sensible job, clothes, and love life… if you counted an overbearing ex who had thanked her, rolled over and was snoring before she even realized he’d begun! She could tolerate not fulfilling her dreams, if her parents would pay her one compliment about the only thing she was passionate about in life: her art.

Dot should have fit in with her flamboyant and slightly eccentric family of talented artists, but somehow, she was an anomaly who couldn’t paint. She tried hard to be part of their world by becoming an art agentextraordinaire, but she dreamed of finding her own voice.Dot’s brother Nate, a smolderingly sexy and famous artist, was adored by everyone. His creative talent left them in awe of his ability to capture such passion on canvas. Women worshipped him, and even Dot’s friend Maud flushed and bumped into things when he walked into a room, but a tragic event in his past had left him emotionally and physically scarred, and reluctant to face the world again.

Someone was leaving exquisite little paintings on park benches, with a tag saying, ‘If you love me, I’m yours’. The art was so fresh and cutting-edge, that it generated a media frenzy and a scramble to discover where the mystery artist could be hiding. The revelation of who the prodigious artist was interlinked Maud, Dot and Nate’s lives forever, but their worlds came crashing down.

Were bonds of friendship, love and loyalty strong enough to withstand fame, success and scandal?

My Review:

This book is all about friendship and discovering who you are, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the two main characters, they were very interesting to read. It was a really light-hearted and simple book, but it was still engaging.

The dialogue between characters was really funny and relatable, so I enjoyed that. I also enjoyed the aspect of art because being an artistic person myself, I really found myself connecting with the majority of the book.

I would highly recommend this if you are looking for a quick and easy summer book to read!

My one complaint would be that the writing style was not my type. Some of the sentences were a bit too juvenile for me, and I think this book would have been better written in first person, so that you could get a feel for the girls’ personalities more and read from their two POVs.

Overall, I would give this a 3.5/5 stars!

Purchase:

If you are interested in the book, you can purchase it by clicking the link here.

Hello everyone!! I just got back from vacation in Punta Cana, so I’m sorry for being a little MIA recently. I am back on the blogging grind though, and I have been reading more than ever.

Today I wanted to post a review of a book I just read recently and completely fell in LOVE with! That book is The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Goodreads Synopsis:

A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo.

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.

So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.

My Review:

**There are some trigger warnings that I want to include first for abuse and sexual assault.

My initial thoughts were: Wow. Just wow.

This book is told entirely in verse, which was just so unique and wonderful to me. It made the book flow quickly and smoothly, so I finished it in about a day. This writing style just really suited the book and I loved it a lot.

The main character, Xiomara, is such a badass and I loved her personality so much. There were some things she did that made me cringe a little bit because I thought they were just a bit too much, but overall she was a great character.

I also loved how the book involved religion. I felt myself relating to Xiomara so much because of this aspect of growing up in a religious home when I, myself, am not religious.

Overall, the book helped me fall in love with poetry all over again. I have always been a poetry fan, but recently haven’t been as involved in writing it. After reading this, I immediately grabbed a pen and paper and started writing again. It felt so freeing.

The one downfall of this book that I have to mention is the ending. It wrapped up way too quickly and too perfectly. I think the ending could have used some more development, or at least just made longer so it wasn’t so sudden.

Besides that, I loved every other aspect of this book, and I am incredibly happy that I have read it.

A couple of days ago, I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL! That is so crazy to me. As of now, I am on summer break until I go off to college. I am still in shock.

Today, I have some recommendations for summer books to read.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

This was the first book that came to mind when I thought of summer. This is such a cute and fluffy read, and I would highly recommend it! It is a YA contemporary following a girl who writes letters to all of her crushes as closure, and one day those letters get sent out. I’m sure you’ve heard of it! Plus, the movie is coming out in August, so it is the perfect time to read it.

Wanderlost by Jen Malone

I just finished this book recently, and I think it would be the perfect summer read! It follows a girl on a trip around Europe (in the summertime), so it gives you all of those travel feels! It would be a great plane ride book, or book whenever you’re on the go.

Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Wow. That is the only word I can use to describe this book. It is so amazing, so adorable. I absolutely loved the main love interest in this story, and I fell in love with Jenn Bennett’s writing style. It is one of my favorite reads of the year, I would highly recommend it.

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

This is one of my older favorite books ever. I really fell in love with the characters, and I learned so much about the film industry. This story also takes place in the summertime, and it is a really quick-paced book, so I think it is perfect for the summer.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

I figured I should include a book that ISN’T a contemporary, so this is a fantasy I would recommend for the summer. The story moves quickly, and it was easy to read. I loved the storyline, and there were some plot twists I didn’t see coming.

Hello everyone! Today I am back with a new blog post, and this one is a fun one! I was invited to take part in a blog tour for the debut book The Past is Present by Kathleen Webb!

**All opinions are my own**

Goodreads Synopsis:After the untimely death of her mother and father, twenty-four year old Catherine Morgan leaves the Cambridge home where she has spent the better part of her life, to move to Cornwall. She takes a job as a teacher, working in an old rambling school which has been converted from a domestic home, perched high up on a hilltop, overlooking the beautiful Cornish coastline.

Out of the blue a letter arrives from a bank in Switzerland, advising Catherine that she is the sole heir to a fortune of over thirty million dollars. With no living relatives, save for a great aunt in the USA, Catherine sets out to uncover the source of this staggering inheritance, and to unravel the mystery that lies behind it.

With the help of her great aunt, Catherine begins to dig deep into long forgotten family secrets. Strange dreams begin to plague her. She is haunted by the eerie feeling that someone from her family’s past is trying to help her. Catherine must work to make sense of the past while defending herself, and her fortune, from someone in the present who will stop at nothing to secure the money for themselves.

My Review

The first thing I have to say about this book is that I did not really enjoy the writing style. It was a little difficult to get into initially. It feels a little juvenile and basic, but once I got used to it, I was able to enjoy the story more.

Besides that, I did enjoy the story. The main character, Catherine, was very likable. I felt myself relating to many of the things she was saying,

The story also switches between two different times. It was done pretty well, but it felt a little forced at times. There were some plot holes that were left unfinished, but for a debut novel, the storyline itself was decent.

Towards the end, the book really picked up, which I appreciated. There were some twists and exciting events that I enjoyed reading.

Overall, I would give this book a 3/5 stars. It was okay, but definitely could have been improved upon.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and thank you to Faye for hosting this blog tour! See you in my next post :)